Conversations on Dante 4: Catherine Keen on Bruno Latour, Brunetto Latini and Dante

Leeds Dante Podcast

Conversations on Dante is a new set of podcast episodes from the Leeds Centre for Dante Studies at the University of Leeds. In each episode, we sit down with researchers from a range of disciplines to discuss some of the work which is helping to shape our understanding of Dante, his context and works, and his place in the cultures of the world.

In this episode, Dr Catherine Keen discusses the ways in which Bruno Latour's work An Inquiry into the Modes of Existence can enrich our reading of Dante and his teacher, Brunetto Latini. Catherine introduces the idea of diplomacy as it is developed by Latour, and shows how this notion provides a framework for understanding exile, authorship and the vernacular.

Catherine's engagement with Latour has been published in an article in a recent special issue of Romanic Review (111: 1), Category Crossings: Bruno Latour and Medieval Modes of Existence, edited by Marilynn Desmond and Noah D. Guynn.

Catherine Keen is Associate Professor (Dante and Medieval Literature) at University College London.

The conversation is hosted by Matthew Treherne.